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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Compromise of 1850

Just a few facts...

What is the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?

  • Initially proposed by Senator James Mason of Va.
  • The new proposed Fugitive Slave Bill would be an amendment to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.
  • The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was not being enforced so they created the Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850 with stricter penalty's.
  • Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, it was a part of the Compromise of 1850.
  • Signed by President Millard Fillmore.
  • Only 4 voted against it: John P. Hale, Charles Sumner, Salmon Chase, and Benjamin Wade.
  • Was the only controversial bill on the Compromise.
  • Federal Law that allowed for the capture and return of runaway slaves.
  • It required citizens to assist in the recovery of slaves
  • Denied fugitive rights to a grand jury.
  • Any person who would aid runaways would be fined 500 dollars, and spend 6 months in jail.
  • Officers were entitled to a fee and this encouraged them to kidnap free slaves and sell them to slave owners.

Fugitive Act Cont.

Fugitive Slave Act Cont.

  • The fugitive slave act resulted in many free blacks being illegally captured and sold into slavery.
  • Solomon Northup was a free black who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C in 1841.
  • He would spend the next 12 years as a slave before winning back his freedom in 1853.
  • Any U.S Marshall who did not return or arrest a runaway slave would pay a penalty of $1000.
  • Even if a slave was able to escape from thier plantation they could still be caught and returned to any slave owner.

Anthony Burns

Uncle Toms Cabin

Fugitive Slave Act in the North

  • Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Toms Cabin because of the passage Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
  • Abraham Lincoln greeted Harriet with "So your the little women who wrote that book who started this great war."
  • Northern states opposed the Fugitive Slave Act it became virtually unenforceable in certain states.
  • Vermont and Wisconsin tried to nullify the law.
  • Northerns would protect free black slaves, and fugitive slaves by enacting legislation to protect them.
  • Riots and revolts broke out due to resistance.
  • Was a slave in Stafford County Va.
  • Escaped from slavery, and reached Boston, Massachusetts.
  • He was caught in 1853, and was tried under the Boston Law.
  • On June 2, 1854 he was escorted back to his masters in Virginia.
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